Carver Community Garden
The Carver Community Garden was initiated by the Rev. Carroll Carter in 2012, when he served as pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in NW Roanoke. The garden was planted on two adjoining vacant lots owned by the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization (NNEO) in response to community conversations regarding the need for better food access in order to create a healthy community. The community conversations at that time were organized by NNEO. The initial group of volunteers acting is partnership with NNEO included Richard Chubb, Arthur Hill, Amazetta Anderson, Andre Peery, Marylen Harmon, Mohandas SalaamAllah, and Ralph Clark, along with other volunteers from the community. One Valley, Inc. took over the operation and maintenance of the garden starting with the 2017 growing season. At that time, through an agreement with Apple Ridge Farm, John Lewis supervised 10 campers from Apple Ridge Farm who helped at the garden every Saturday. In 2018, Davey Rogner took over for John in overseeing garden activities and in coordinating volunteers, which included members of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, and members of VT-Engage, who worked at the garden on many Saturday mornings as a service project.The Carver Community Garden was initiated by the Rev. Carroll Carter in 2012, when he served as pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in NW Roanoke. The garden was planted in response to community conversations regarding the need for better food access in order to create a healthy community. The garden is maintained by volunteers whose composition has changed over time. Those volunteers over time included Richard Chubb, Arthur Hill, Amazetta Anderson, Andre Peery, Marylen Harmon, Gene Yagow, Mohandas SalaamAllah, Ralph Clark, and Davey Rogner, along with many other volunteers from the community. During the 2017 growing season, about 10 campers from Apple Ridge Farm helped at the garden every Saturday, under the supervision of John Lewis. In 2018, we received assistance from members of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, and in 2018 and 2019 during the school term, members of VT-Engage worked on many Saturday mornings at the garden as a service project.
The Carver Community Garden is located at the corner of 6th Street and Loudon Avenue in NW Roanoke. The vegetable garden consists of a combination of raised beds and in-ground beds that encompass an area of approximately 40 feet by 120 feet (0.11 acres). Next to the vegetable garden is a forest garden of approximately 50 feet by 65 feet (0.074 acres) that was planted in 2019. The vegetable garden includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, beans and peas, broccoli, a wide variety of salad greens such as cabbage, collard greens, lettuce, and arugula, wildflowers, a variety of herbs, and strawberries. The forest garden includes a variety of fruit trees, berry bushes, and grape vines.
Rain barrels had been incorporated on the site and initially used to water the vegetables, though an irrigation system is being developed for the vegetable garden plot. A produce stand was constructed with CDBG funds through a grant in conjunction with Apple Ridge Farm. A grant from AARP in 2018 was used to make the vegetable garden more accessible to neighborhood senior citizens, with the construction of new raised beds, permanent benches, and a picnic table.
Produce from the community garden was initially donated primarily to the former Children’s Feeding Program (at Roanoke-Salem Plaza). The produce from the garden currently is distributed among the volunteer gardeners, with the excess distributed to the community from our garden-side produce stand, or donated to McCray Court Senior Center, RAM, the Hope Center and the Lion's Share.
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One Valley is also partnered with Virginia Cooperative Extension in providing classes on healthy eating and the use of fresh vegetables. For more information, see the video.
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Most of the pathways at the Carver Garden have been covered with cardboard and wood chips in order to minimize time spent on weed control, and planning for our spring garden.
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From The Ground UP
In 2021, One Valley’s Carver Garden, in conjunction with CommUNITY ARTS-reach, offered a free 6-week fun learning experience on gardening and healthy eating. The program, entitled “From The Ground UP”, focused on activities and projects for youth and accompanying adults, using the garden as the foundation for integrated learning in an informal outdoor setting, and included a healthy snack. The classes were held on Saturday mornings in March and April. The activities followed Covid-19 protocols using masks and social distancing. The classes were led by Carver Garden’s long-time gardeners, Amazetta Anderson and Arthur Hill.
A logo for CommUNITY ARTS-reach’s “From the Ground Up” program created by Polly Branch.
Setting up class materials and preparing the raised beds prior to the arrival of the students.
Amazetta and Marylen planting onion bulbs with one of the families.
Amazetta demonstrating gardening tool usage to students.
Students and parents removing winter growth from a raised bed in preparation for planting.
On Saturday, April 3rd, "From The Ground UP" at Carver Garden focused on transplanting lettuce in the raised beds and harvesting/screening compost from last year's pile, followed by a healthy snack called "ants on a log" (celery sticks, peanut butter, and raisins). Safe food sharing habits were also reinforced, such as proper hand washing and avoiding double-dipping, along with proper disposal and recycling of snack materials.
Students separating finished compost.
Adults and students learning together.
Eating "ants on a log" with transplanted lettuce in the background.
On Saturday, August 14th, One Valley's Carver Community Garden celebrated the end of a 6-week session of their gardening and healthy eating program, "From the Ground Up" at the garden. Support for the program was provided by the Virginia Cooperative Extension's Virginia Family Nutrition Program and by Community Arts Reach. The celebration began with a garden salad prepared by Amazetta Anderson, our Master Gardener. Program participants were presented with certificates, along with gifts from VCE and school backpacks and supplies donated by OfficeMax.
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